Really Dumb Question

[Burd]

Well, here's a really dumb question (but not the first I or others have asked): is streaming audio digital or analog? If I hook my computer up to my stereo system and use a cd recorder to record it, is that digital or analog? And, am I better off using a program that "grabs" a stream and makes it into an mp3? Some streams sound good when I record them via the first method mentioned...others sound like crap. Also, any good programs for grabbing streams? Thanks and please excuse my ignorance. :gj

[WE_DELIVER]

Here is what I think....
1. This is not a dumb question.
2. Streaming audio(off the internet) is digital.
3. If you record off of a rca(plug type) out on your stereo system its analog, except when you put it on a cd, it becomes digital media.
4. If you can avoid turning music from digital(streaming) to analog(your stereo) back to digital(CD recorder) do so. In my opinion a stream to mp3 recorder will give you the best option since youre not converting between digital and analog, and vice versa.

Hope that helps.

[vipp]

Burd is the word :gj

[MacGyver]

its a better post than those stupid music posts...

analog is something that can take an infinite number of points... like the numbers between 1 and 0...think about it..there are infinite numbers between there...there is .1, .2, .3, .4...or you can break it down more .15 or .115 or.1115 whatever.... more and more...you can keep adding decimals to the number forever..digital only has 2 values...1 or 0...thats the difference.

[crackerjacker]

its a better post than those stupid music posts...

analog is something that can take an infinite number of points... like the numbers between 1 and 0...think about it..there are infinite numbers between there...there is .1, .2, .3, .4...or you can break it down more .15 or .115 or.1115 whatever.... more and more...you can keep adding decimals to the number forever..digital only has 2 values...1 or 0...thats the difference.

if a is one set a to b if be is three
break it down

[MacGyver]

if a is one set a to b if be is three
break it down

um...yeah, what he said

[Burd]

Wha? Who? When? Where? (Remember Barbarino?)Thanks for the info WE DELIVER. O.K., so forget analog. Any one know of a good program then for "grabbing" anything that's streaming through my computer's speakers? I seem to remember something mentioned in some forum, but can't quite remember which one.

[CompuGeek]

Wha? Who? When? Where? (Remember Barbarino?)Thanks for the info WE DELIVER. O.K., so forget analog. Any one know of a good program then for "grabbing" anything that's streaming through my computer's speakers? I seem to remember something mentioned in some forum, but can't quite remember which one.

This might be what you're looking for:

http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/

[Burd]

Thanks, CompuGeek. I'll give it a go.

[Siskabush]

Streamripper
Its like a digital tape recorder
Its orgasmic. :)

[Afn]

When you decode a stream, that is digital. When you send the stream to your speakers, that is analog.

Basically, it is very bad to go from DIGITAL to ANALOG and then RE-ENCODE back to DIGITAL.

Use a streamripper or loopback on your pc to get the job done.

[Arch Stanton]

in regards to recording a cd, theoretically, you need to look at the cd itself. normally they tell you if the recording is an aad, add or a ddd. the first letter deisginates how the original recording was recorded (analog or digital) while the second letter designates how the music was mixed, and the third letter denotes the final process used in converting the music to cd. if you want to be really anal you could say that coverting anything from other then a ddd source can never be a full digital recording.

[Afn]

in regards to recording a cd, theoretically, you need to look at the cd itself. normally they tell you if the recording is an aad, add or a ddd. the first letter deisginates how the original recording was recorded (analog or digital) while the second letter designates how the music was mixed, and the third letter denotes the final process used in converting the music to cd. if you want to be really anal you could say that coverting anything from other then a ddd source can never be a full digital recording.
A compact disc is a digital medium. It is a general rule that once digital, stay in digital.

Encode anything only once is the golden rule.

[TheBlackSnow]

well, dumb question, and there's more dumb answer: 1. it is digital, but also it can be analog 2.it is analog, but also it can be digital :)))

[Induna]

its a better post than those stupid music posts...

analog is something that can take an infinite number of points... like the numbers between 1 and 0...think about it..there are infinite numbers between there...there is .1, .2, .3, .4...or you can break it down more .15 or .115 or.1115 whatever.... more and more...you can keep adding decimals to the number forever..digital only has 2 values...1 or 0...thats the difference.


I think what he's trying to say is digital is represented in binary. i.e. 1's or 0's (on or off) whereas analog is decimal, the numbers we use in everyday life like adding up your shopping, eg. 7 or 4, or even 147 (highest break in Snooker).

In binary 147 would be represented as 10010011.

Here's a binary calculator to amuse yourself with.

http://www.mistupid.com/computers/binaryconv.htm

[muffenme]

:fire

I have other question, how do you make a pure digital sound when it orginally analog. The only true digital sound I know of is midi and even that I question.

You can get a clean digital single from analog but the source must be on a great media. Top quility equipment is also needed to convert the analog into digital. The ideal is to limit the analog to digital transfer as much as possable but it wouldn't never be pure digital because nobody sings in digital and nobody listens to it in pure digital, it need to be converted from analog to digital to analog. The digital part is the best way to store an audio signle.

:hole

[CompuGeek]

Yes, of course that's the case. The ideal circumstances, or "pure digital" if you want to call it that, is to only convert from analog to digital once at the microphone and from digital to analog once at the speakers.

[Afn]

well, dumb question, and there's more dumb answer: 1. it is digital, but also it can be analog 2.it is analog, but also it can be digital :)))

No dumb question.

In the begining there was ANALOG, meaning that all records, tapes, vhs and cassettes were recorded with analog equipment. Then the compact disc was created, and volia! we now have a digital format or "medium" to make records.

Since before the compact disc, and the wide availability of digital mastering and digital editing workstations, all source material was recorded in ANALOG media formats.

Analog has lower quality than digital (the quality issue of recordings is another debate\issue for another time) and has higher noise, recordings made before 1990 were "mostly" created on ANAOG equipment.

The quality of transfer from one medium to another medium is a quality issue. ANALOG equipment can only make one or two copies before you get a grainy picture (like on vhs), likewise with cassettes.


So in 1982, Van Halen can go into the studio and record "Jump"(AAA, in 1990 it can be recorded on to compact disc(AAD), and then in 1996 can be remastered from the individual tracks (recorded in analog) (ADD). Then in 2004 reunion tour, can be recorded live with all digital equipment (DDD).

Digital in theory can make unlimited copies of the same quality, or using mp3 a mathamatical representation of the waveform that makes the music.

I am saying that mp3 is not a copy, but the real question about mp3 is IS it a 'copy' of work of art or something else that may be fundamentally unprotected.

So you could have an ANALOG RECORDING, Put it on compact disc (DIGITAL RECORDING) then copy it to Cassette (ANALOG RECORDING)

if you copy the CASSETTE back to compact disc, you have created a mortal error in quality, 'thou must not Analog->digital->analog->digital'

The idea for quality is once in digital, stay in digital if you want the highest quality.

[shawners]

here at zeropaid, their is no dumb questions. Just dumb answers=)